Following the loss of the Purney crew Sgt Cruickshank, the surviving crew member, transferred to 166 Sqdn where he completed a further 25 sorties and was awarded DFM.

The picture below is of P/O Purney and Crew:

P/O Purney and (some of) the crew: Cruickshank was not on the fatal flight (replaced by Peter King, not pictured) that night. John Sheahan is also absent
Photo from the Rebecq Memorial site

JA712 Crew Information

The P/O Purney crew (with Sgt Peter King as the W/Op on this occasion) were flying 550 Squadron Lancaster JA712/BQ-H when it was shot down by a German night-fighter during the night of 27/28 May 1944 when it was coming back from a bombing mission over Aachen. The aircraft crashed at Rebecq-Rognon (Brabant), 25 km SW of Brussels. In May 2011 a memorial to the crew, and the people of Rebecq, was unveiled: see
Rebecq Memorial Project for details about this event.

More information about the lost crew is available at
http://www.rebecq-memorial.eu/crew.php. The site has a wealth of information not only about the crew but also about the villagers who suffered as a result of going to the aid of the stricken Lancaster crew.

Sgt D Yardley (MU/AG)

Sgt P C M King

JA712 Aircraft Recovery

Below are copies of two documents: the first concerning the removal by the Wehrmacht of a fueltank (on 12th July 1944) of JA712, and the second in the removal of the rest of plane on 4th August 1944 (two months after the crash). It was only at this time that the bodies of Purney, King and Flanagan were discovered. Many thanks to Wilfred Burie for making the photos available.

Document (dated 12th July 1944) on recovery of the fuel-tanks of Lancaster JA712 in Rebecq

Document (dated 4th August 1944) on recovery of Lancaster JA712 in Rebecq

550 Squadron Commemorations in Rebecq, Belgium

Over the years there have been many visits by the Association to Rebecq following the unveiling of the Memorial in 2011. See the Rebecq Commemorations web-page.